Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu"
The Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (屠龍, "Dragon Slayer") was a two-seat, twin-engine fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The army gave it the designation "Type 2 Two-Seat Fighter"; the Allied reporting name was "Nick". In response to the rapid emergence in Europe of twin-engine heavy fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110, the army ordered development of a twin-engine, two-seat fighter in 1937, and assigned the proposal by Kawasaki Shipbuilding the designation of Ki-38. This only went as far as a mock up, but by December of that year, the army ordered a working prototype as the Ki-45, which first flew in January 1939. Results from the test flights, however, did not meet the army's expectations. The Ha-20 Otsu engine was underpowered and failure-prone, while the airframe suffered from nacelle stall. The Ki-45 did not enter use, but the army, insistent on having a working twin-engine fighter, ordered Kawasaki to continue development. Kawasaki responded by replacing the engines with the proven Nakajima Ha-25. Flight tests were promising. In October 1940, the army ordered continued improvements such as switching to 805 kW (1,080 hp) Mitsubishi Ha-102 engines. This craft, designated Ki-45 Kai, was complete in September 1941 and was officially adopted for use by the army in February 1942 as the "Type 2 Two-Seat Fighter"'. Ki-45 KAIa The KAIa was the first variant. The armament was one forward-firing 20 mm Ho-3 gun and two 12.7 mm Ho-103 mg's in the nose. For protection behind, there was a 7.7 mm Type 98 as rear gun. It was possible to carry two drop tanks or two 250kg bombs on underwing racks. In FHSW this aircraft is available with two Type 2 HEAT Cluster bombs. It went in service in August 1942 and for first use in October 1942. It will soon know by the allieds as the Nick. Ki-45 KAIb The second variant was the KAIb and was more for ground-attack/antishipping purpose. Again the same armament nearly like the KAIa. It have two 20 mm Ho-3 guns and the 12.7 mm Ho-103 mg's are removed and replace by a 37mm Ho-98 canon. A number of alternative weapon installations were tried experimentally, including the use of a 75mm cannon for attacks on shipping. In FHSW this aircraft is also available with two Type 2 HEAT Cluster bombs or with two 250 kg bombs. Ki-45 KAIc One of the most used veriants ingame is the KAIc. This was night fighter variant. Yeah.... we know each nightfighter ingame have radars and this one have it not, but a single KAIc flew with centimetric radar shortly before the end of the war. The need grows after the Consoldiated B-24 Liberators more be used for night bombings. Thus the night-fighting capability of the type was discovered, leading to development of the Ki-45 KAIc night-fighter, which proved to be one of the most successful Japanese aircraft in this category. In 1944 it went in service as the only army-night fighter of the war. Armament are one forward firing 20 mm Ho-3 and two forward firing 37 mm Ho-203. The reargunner have a 7.7 mm Type 98 gun. Possible to equip the aircraft with two 250 kg bombs and in FHSW also available with two Type 2 HEAT Cluster bombs. Production of the Ki-45 KAIc got underway at Kawasaki's Akashi plant in March 1944, the first aircraft being completed the following month. The aircraft show himself as a very well interceptor when the Americans attack with 15 B-29's on June 15. Eight KAIc's shot down eight bombers. At that time about 40 Ki-45 KAIc fighters had been completed. 477 KAIc are been produced in nearly one year! Ki-45 KAId Ki-45 KAIe Ki-45 Ho-204 Ki-45 Ho-401 Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (1).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (2).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (3).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (4).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (5).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (6).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (7).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (8).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (9).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (10).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (11).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (12).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu (13).jpg|Kawasaki_Ki-45_Toryu Kawasaki Ki-45 (1).jpg|Kawasaki Ki-45 Kawasaki Ki-45 (2).jpg|Kawasaki Ki-45 Category:Japanese Equipment Category:Fighters and fighter bombers Category:Interceptor